RICHARD THOMPSON
Tiré du magazine accoustic guitar (2001) :
Despite the clamor and acclaim accorded Richard Thompson for his guitar work in both the acoustic and electric realms, he maintains a modest, workmanlike approach to his music-making tools. He owns a handful of acoustic guitars, including a mid-’60s Martin 000-18, a couple of custom Danny Ferrington six-strings (Danny Ferrington, PO Box 923, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272), a Ferrington baritone guitar, a Lowden L27F (see Great Acoustics), and a small-bodied Lowden S23 (Lowden Guitar Co., 8 Glenford Way, Newtownards BT23 4BX, Northern Ireland; [800] 872-5856;
www.lowdenguitars.com ). Thompson has a long-standing association with Ferrington’s idiosyncratic lutherie, and he is shown playing Ferringtons on the covers of Small Town Romance and Hand of Kindness. He is still apt to play the Ferringtons and the Martin at home or in the studio, but for concert work he limits himself to the Lowden L27F, which he retunes as needed rather than switching between guitars for alternate tunings. Thompson’s acoustic collection also includes a mandolin, a tenor banjo, a hurdy-gurdy, and hammer and lap dulcimers. Of these, only the Appalachian-style lap dulcimer joins him on stage.
Thompson amplifies his guitars on stage with a Sunrise pickup run through a Sunrise tube preamp, with a hint of Boss DD3 digital delay and Uni-Vibe stereo chorus effects. He sometimes blends in an on-board Countryman Isomax condenser mic run through an ART preamp. In the studio he employs a variety of mics and recording techniques, ranging from straight acoustic miking to running the acoustic signal through an amp.
As for the plugged portions of his program, Thompson was wedded to his trusty ’59 Fender Stratocaster for decades, but more recently he’s been enamored of a Ferrington prototype electric. This aquamarine special is wired with a Fender Broadcaster pickup at the bridge, a Stratocaster pickup in the middle, and a classic Gibson P90 at the neck position. Controls are limited to three volume pots—Thompson feels that tone controls are unnecessary on an electric—and he achieves his variety of tone color through the choice and balance of pickups. He runs the signal through a Fender Vibroverb and a Line Six 2 x 10 cabinet. As with the acoustic, he uses minimal tweaking and effects and depends more on his touch and attack for effect. "I use a little Boss digital delay and a touch of the Uni-Vibe," he says. "Nothing special, really."
Until recently, Thompson found himself going through strings at a furious rate, and he would often need to change to a fresh set after an hour or two of live playing. Lately he’s found that the coated winding on Elixir strings affords a much longer string life, and he can go two or three gigs before changing strings. On the Lowden his set runs from .012 to .054, and on the electrics his guitar tech assembles a custom set in a lighter gauge. Thompson sets the strings in motion with Gibson teardrop medium flatpicks, generic thumb- and fingerpicks, and bare fingers. When he uses a capo, it’s usually a Shubb. On the electric guitar he limits himself to standard and dropped-D tunings, but on the acoustic he is likely to range from standard to D A D G A D to open C and G during the course of an evening.
––Paul Kotapish